Insuperable problems

[excoriator]

Sometimes life throws really difficult challenges at you.



Even the heir to the throne is no exception to this.

[jonjel]

Quite a decent wristwatch methinks. I think his mask-fitter might have been having a day orf!

[excoriator]

Well, it can be challenging, putting on your own mask. But I think with encouragement he might managed it eventually.


Re. the watch. I am surprised that no manufacturer I know of has followed the lead of tellies and hi-fi's and eliminated the need for the irritating knobs and buttons projecting from them.

A tiny LED* smaller than a mm square somewhere on or behind the dial would allow for two way communication with a much larger remote unit and greatly improve the sealing and waterproofing of the watch. You don't generally need to fiddle with adjustments very often.

* LEDs can be use as receivers as well as transmitters of light. Not a lot of people know that.

[jonjel]

Jun 16, 2021 10:58:39 GMT excoriator said:

Well, it can be challenging, putting on your own mask. But I think with encouragement he might managed it eventually.


Re. the watch. I am surprised that no manufacturer I know of has followed the lead of tellies and hi-fi's and eliminated the need for the irritating knobs and buttons projecting from them.

A tiny LED* smaller than a mm square somewhere on or behind the dial would allow for two way communication with a much larger remote unit and greatly improve the sealing and waterproofing of the watch. You don't generally need to fiddle with adjustments very often.

* LEDs can be use as receivers as well as transmitters of light. Not a lot of people know that.

Exco, You are talking to a watch and clock fanatic here, but you knew that. I very much doubt HRH is wearing just any old watch. I cant see the brand unfortunately. Therefore the buttons would be quite comfortable to wear. That said, how many times do we ever use them? In my case almost never. If I need to time something, a system running then I use the stop watch on my phone, and if I want to time boiling an egg, the timer on the microwave.

A couple of the guys at work have these fancy electronic things where they receive e-mails and all sorts besides. They look ugly in my view. My day to day watch is battery powered. It would do all sorts but the one thing it does extremely accurately is tell me he time. I have others which I either wind up, or wind themselves, but they are really no more than fashion statements. The little ones love to play with a skeleton watch I have though, and see all the cogs going round.

[excoriator]

Well the watch I have is nothing particularly fancy. It is solar powered, adjusts itself automatically to the MSF radio transmitter, has analog hands and a little window tells me the date. It is zero hassle and does everything I want of it. I don't even have to get the battery replaced!

However, they have integrated four buttons into the thing which allow me to change time zones etc or use it as a stopwatch none of which I have ever used. The watch is bigger and uglier because of it. One with NO controls would look far better, maybe cost less, be a bit smaller all of which would be improvements. Just because something CAN be done, is not a good reason why it SHOULD be done.

I have a couple of LED torches which are basically excellent. The are very powerful and I can by tugging a ring back and fore go from a tight beam to a flood. The only other thing I want control is to switch it on and off. However, then some fool said "This is a lily we can gild!" and set to to add a tiny chip which allows me - by pressing teh on/off switch repeatedly to set high, low, and medium brightness, to make it flash SOS in morse, or a rapidly flashing mode intended to send an attacking epileptic mugger into a disabling fit.

The result is that it comes on one of these unwanted modes and I have to cycle through to get it just on full - all I ever want. Moreover, attempting to switch it off means a succession of flashes and variable brightness levels before it goes off. FAR mor trouble than its worth!

On one of them, I dismantled it got the data on the chip and was able to subvert all this nonsense so it just has two modes ON and OFF. That's all that's required of any torch. I twas not easy and much of it had to be done under a microscope, so I have put off doing the same to the others through laziness.

I really don't understand why it is so hard to understand that the ideal machine has NO controls or menus. It should just do what it's designed for without pestering the life out of you!

[jonjel]

Indeed Exco. So often the simplest least complicated design is the best. No one has yet invented any hand tool better than a scythe for cutting grass, as long as you don't copy that idiot from Poldark when using one. (I was taught to use one at the age of 14 by an old boy who had actually fought in the Boar War!)

[excoriator]

Indeed. I learned to use a scythe when I worked one summer on the parks and gardens and the boss set two of us to clear a neglected area. I found it a strangely relaxing almost hypnotic task. I also got taught how to use a shovel properly, allowing the handle to slide through your hand as you discharge the load from the blade.

It is surprising how often you see actors on TV who look the part of a tough labourer who has spend years using a shovel trying to jerk the soil off the shovel like an amateur.

[jonjel]

The man who taught me had only ever left the village twice. Once when he went to Africa to fight, and also when he went to collect his medals. A fascinating man. He lived alone, had no radio or TV but had read probably the entire contents of the local mobile library. Therefore his thoughts and ideas were his own and not simply repeating some mantra.

We discussed the Boar war. He told me that the reason the Boars won (he said they had won!) was because they used their own guns. The troop trains had to stop when it got dark as there would be logs put on the line and so forth. And the Boars would come out of the sunrise and pick a few people off at very long range. And they knew that the particular rifle they were using might pull a foot to the left at 3/4 of a mile. My friend told me they used to return fire, but never even saw the Boars. History is rarely written by people who were there, and you will never find what he told me in any of the history books.